How do I use Video Sitemaps to get my product demos into the "Videos" tab of Google?

All answers to this question.

Video sitemaps are essential if you aren't using YouTube, as Google needs a roadmap to find your self-hosted files. You must include the <video:thumbnail_loc>, <video:title>, and <video:description> tags at a minimum. Crucially, you need to provide the <video:content_loc> (the actual .mp4 or file path) OR the <video:player_loc>. In my 2024 experience, providing a high-quality thumbnail is the most important part for CTR. If Google can't generate a preview, your video won't show up in the "Video" tab or as a rich snippet in the main SERPs.

   Answered 2024-05-22 by Barbara Thompson

Have you also implemented Video Schema (JSON-LD) on the actual page? Sometimes Google prefers the on-page markup over the sitemap data if there’s a conflict.

   Answered 2024-05-25 by Daniel Evans

• Daniel, I’ve done both. I noticed that the Sitemap is better for "discovery" (letting Google know the video exists), while the Schema is better for "presentation" (getting the rich snippets like the play button and duration to show up in search). One issue I ran into was the thumbnail size—Google is quite picky about the aspect ratio. I had to resize all our thumbnails to 16:9 before they started appearing correctly in the Search Console video enhancement reports.

     Commented 2024-05-27 by Jeffrey Hall

Don't forget the <video:duration> tag! Google often filters results based on length, and having that data helps the algorithm categorize your demo as a "short" or "long" form video.

   Answered 2024-05-30 by Elizabeth Harris

• I agree with Elizabeth. Providing the duration also helps with the "key moments" feature in search, allowing users to skip to specific parts of your demo directly from the SERP.

     Commented 2024-06-02 by Barbara Thompson